Social Activity in Schizotypy: Measuring Frequency and Enjoyment of Social Events

Abstract

Improving social functioning deficits—a core characteristic of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders—is often listed by patients as a key recovery goal. Evidence suggests that social deficits also extend to people with schizotypy, a group at heightened risk for psychotic and other psychopathological disorders. One challenge of social functioning research in schizotypy is understanding whether social deficits arise from receiving less pleasure from social activities or from participating less in high-pleasure activities. However, limited information exists on what constitutes highly pleasurable, common social activities. In this study, 357 college students rated the frequency and enjoyment of 38 social activities. Our aims were to categorize activities based on their frequency and enjoyment, and whether these correlated with validated social functioning and schizotypy measures. We found that social activities could be characterized based on their frequency and enjoyment and created a frequency–enjoyment matrix that could be useful for future studies. Activities were correlated with social functioning, generally reaching a small effect size level, with increasing frequency and enjoyment showing associations with greater social functioning. Further, negative and disorganized—but not positive—traits were associated with less engagement and pleasure. Although follow-up studies in community samples are needed, our findings have the potential to help researchers and clinicians better understand which activities participants are more likely to engage in and derive pleasure from. The findings may also illustrate the extent to which social deficits may be due to less engagement or less pleasure from social activities, as well as which aspects of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders are associated with these facets of social functioning.